Garage Advice column.

dustin · Post by **dustin** » Wed Jun 22, 2011 8:00 pm

Hey folks... list something that you have learned the hard way... even tell us what happened and why we should learn from your mistake!

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Never under any circumstances use vice grips on the end of a broken throttle cable. (72 polaris colt snowmobile, bought the neighbors a new fence in the spring)

Willyr · Post by **Willyr** » Wed Jun 22, 2011 10:21 pm

Taking apart old bolts does not mean yanking on the bolt with everything you have. Most of the time some heat and a gentle pull on a normal wrench is sufficient to loosen even the toughest bolt.

KenP · Post by **KenP** » Thu Jun 23, 2011 4:42 am

deleted

Post by **Lavoy** » Thu Jun 23, 2011 8:14 am

Crawlers don't float worth a damn.
Lavoy

dustin · Post by **dustin** » Thu Jun 23, 2011 8:26 am

Always wear eye or face protection while dozing. ( trip to the ER with a scratched cornia from a tree branch last winter)

pop pop · Post by **pop pop** » Fri Jun 24, 2011 5:15 pm

waste oil brushed on bolts,nuts,joints.
even if you don't plan to take it apart,
you'll be glad when you don't gall the threads or snap things off.

and for the tough,young and dumb crowd, don't use your hand to beat on a wrench. you'll figure out why when you get old.

Pammark · Post by **Pammark** » Mon Jun 27, 2011 10:12 am

Every part on a dozer, no matter how small, weighs 100 pounds or more.

Your back is not a crane and you only get one of them in a lifetime.

Use skid-loader/tractor buckets, chain hoists, rope pulleys, etc to pick up items and move about. He-man is another word for Stupidity.

Stan Disbrow · Post by **Stan Disbrow** » Wed Jun 29, 2011 5:42 pm

Lavoy wrote:Crawlers don't float worth a damn.
Lavoy

Hi,

Nope. However, the literature always talks about 'flotation'! I ain't never seen one float!

To get back to the advice, on the old Deere Iron, watch that hot battery post and the bottom of the gas tank. I like to put a custom cut piece of wood paneling over top of that battery....

Later!

Stan

MADJACK · Post by **MADJACK** » Thu Jun 30, 2011 9:26 am

If a bolt breaks off, I weld a nut on the broken end, I ve even done this when the end was recessed a bit. The heat helps the stuck bolt and you can use a wrench on the nut just like the bolt never broke. Wire feed is my preferred welder for this.

Jeep Water pump bolts seem to volunteer for this frequently[/u]

digitup2 · Post by **digitup2** » Thu Jun 30, 2011 10:03 pm

When the pin you were pushing out of a sleeve in the 200 ton press.Just decided to leave a two inch hole in the shop floor before making it's own exit hole out of the shop and taking out a windshield of your next project car just out side .It is a great time to smile and say. It's great no one was hurt .At that point 4 people standing there and no one hurt .New sign at press reads Before you get any pressure up on this press evacuate all fellow workers and bystanders!.floors and walls fix easy and windshields are cheap .When I got back to the shop this after noon no one wanted to tell me what happened .The shop apprentice finally got the nerve to tell me .I went back and looked and I just said glad no one was hurt at this point it is all fixable .So that made it a good day and lesson learned as well.Digitup.

roadbuilder · Post by **roadbuilder** » Fri Jul 01, 2011 8:05 pm

Don't use a high speed grinder disc, (one of the thin ones) as a cut off blade. Especially after taking off the guard to use it as one. They break and go richocheting off at high speed.

Stan Disbrow · Post by **Stan Disbrow** » Sat Jul 02, 2011 10:57 am

Hi,

That's another point: grind wheels age.

They slowly absorb moisture from the atmosphere and that weakens the glue that holds the grit together. My dad used to tag the grinders in his machine shop and replace older, perfectly good-looking, wheels because of this.

So, always presume any wheel you have will catastrophically self-disassemble at any moment you're using it and proceed accordingly.

Later!

Stan

shinnery · Post by **shinnery** » Sat Jul 02, 2011 2:37 pm

Similar results will happen if you attempt to grind alumnium on a grinder wheel.
Bryce

Post by **Lavoy** » Sat Jul 02, 2011 3:28 pm

By and large every penetrating agent, snake oil, lube, etc. on the face of the earth is worthless if whatever you are working on is truly rusted. There are only two penetrants that truly work, water, or lots of heat.
Lavoy

digitup2 · Post by **digitup2** » Sun Jul 03, 2011 10:13 am

I agree Lavoy the water is no doubt how it got seized in the first place .I got two pins in a extendible dipper stick I have been cursing the last week or so .I got them red hot on one side top and bottom hydraulic ram pins both .Put the big sledge to both and neither budged a *&^%@# bit .I got pissed off and sent it to the next job .I'll fix it later !! .Digitup.

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